HC stays ED probe against former minister Ebrahim Kunju

KOCHI: Kerala High Court on Tuesday issued an interim stay on its Single Bench's order that directed the Enforcement Directorate to probe into the money laundering case against VK Ebrahim Kunju, a former Kerala PWD minister and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader. The interim stay is for a period of two weeks.
The case pertains to a cash deposit of Rs 10 crore that was made during demonetization into the current account of a newspaper daily called 'Chandrika', which is the mouthpiece of IUML. Ebrahim Kunju was the Chairman of the governing body of Chandrika at that time.
This ruling has come from the Division Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly.
The ruling was on an appeal filed by Kunju sought to quash the Single Bench's order directing the ED probe in August 2020.
The petition contended, "such a direction from the single bench for ED probe would force the petitioner to face investigation despite him having no nexus with the allegations. The Governing body was only an advisory committee constituted by the Chairman and Managing Director, only to promote the circulation of the newspaper. There are similar governing bodies in other units. The direction to the ED was alleged to have resulted in severe prejudice. This direction was illegal."